Just wanted to say that I played through I Am A Brave Knight (twice). It was absorbing and beautiful, not quite like anything else I've played. And unlike many games, it delivered an emotional hit which I think I'll remember for a long time.

Some of the later scenes in particular was gripping, with great choice of words for the user to type in. It literally gave the scenes an undertone which sent a shiver down my spine.

Sounds a lot like Dungeon Siege or Ultima Online, which both used a system like this very effectively. It was a particularly good mechanic in Dungeon Siege because there were only a small number of skills to train. It was logical and intuitive without being overwhelming. And, in theory, the amount of customisation in character builds is a really nice feature.

The danger with this approach is that you drown the player with skills and lose a degree of character and cohesion with player builds. It's nice to be able to play a Paladin class, for example, and know from the get-go exactly what sort of skills you're going to get.

You also lose a bit of flexibility in the kinds of weapons you pick up: if you're a sword master and happen to find a really good axe that you'd like to use, you have to do a lot of grinding to level up your axe skill and make it worthwhile. Maybe that's all part of the character development - but it can also be a pain for gameplay.

One solution to that problem is to "link" related weapons, so that using any melee weapon levels up all melee skills by a % of your primary weapon. Ie, 10xp earned with a sword will also grant you 5xp with an axe, mace and spear.